Current transportation systems including aircraft, various trains, ships and commercial trucks have reached their maximum speed and efficiency capacities. The highest speed attainable by the fastest of these systems, aircraft, can travel safely at approximately 700 mph. Additionally, the inefficiency and time loss brought forth by current transport systems includes a great deal of waste, pollution, limited speed, costly and continuous maintenance and replacement of parts. Furthermore, exposure to delays, travel cancellations due to environmental and climatic conditions as well as lack of ability to adjust to environmental/climatic changes brings great limitations.
Current transportation systems are, and will continue to be, vulnerable to climatic and environmental changes and often stop operating when conditions are not favorable. These above ground systems might be wiped out from climatic or environmental events such as earthquakes, tsunamis, major storms, etc.
The existing transportation systems have served humanity well since their invention. However, they have all reached their functional capacity in a world that is becoming more of an interconnected unit. Thus, a new infrastructure and transportation system is needed that is expandable into a single-standard global system. This is not possible with current systems since they lack a common linking thread.
A single-standard, transportation system and infrastructure would be capable of protecting the life and environment vulnerable to these current and likely continuing cataclysmic environmental and climatic events on earth.